


No Second Chances

by EHyde



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: (what's the actual name of that trope?), Gen, cameo appearance from Geun-tae, character turns into a kid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-02-03
Packaged: 2019-03-13 06:20:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13564662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EHyde/pseuds/EHyde
Summary: Mysterious circumstances cause Suwon to transform into a child, losing all his memories of the past nine years. He tries to figure out what's going on--and Hak will always be there to help him, right?





	No Second Chances

**Author's Note:**

  * For [clockwork_spider](https://archiveofourown.org/users/clockwork_spider/gifts).



“I cannot BELIEVE him!” Lili fumed. Her father had promised he was bringing her ot the generals’ meeting to gain valuable leadership experience. Instead, she’d faced a barrage of attempted matchmaking from every direction except Wind. “I should have known…” Should have known her father wouldn’t trust her with anything real. After everything!

“Ah, we managed to get away, so let’s just enjoy the peace and quiet.”

Walking beside her, Suwon seemed far more calm than he had any call to be. Maybe it was that he was used to corralling the five generals in much more pressing matters than this. Or—she shot him a suspicious glance. “ _You’re_  not—I mean, here we are, walking in a garden alone—”

“Ahaha, you have nothing to fear,” Suwon assured her, and Lili nodded, satisfied. “But while we have a moment of peace, would you like a cup of tea?”

“You’re hiding tea in your robes?” Actually, she wouldn’t put it past him.”

“Well, in fact—” He pulled out a small pouch, then waved for a servant. “It’s a sample that Geun-tae brought, so I happened to have it with me,” he explained.

“Oh, some of Lady Yuno’s tea?” She followed him over to a little gazebo in the garden and sat down opposite him.

“No, actually he said it was something he picked up from a traveling merchant on the way here. He said he wanted to give it as a gift to Yuno, but he still doesn’t know her taste in tea…”

“So you’re the poison tester,” Lili said flatly as the servant returned with two freshly-brewed cups. “Thanks, but I’ll pass.”

Suwon shrugged and took a sip. “Are you sure? It’s delicious!” he assured her—right before he fell face-forward on the table in an unconscious slump.

“Uh—” The bit about being a poison tester was supposed to be a joke! “Your Majesty?” This wasn’t his idea of a game, was it? She poked his head. “Won?” Nothing. “Uh—someone?” Lili turned to look for the servant, but she was already out of sight. “Hey, king, wake—” She turned back around, and he was awake.

But he wasn’t Suwon.

Or at least, not the Suwon she knew. Sitting at the little table, looking around the garden in confusion, was a little boy who couldn’t be any more than ten years old. But his face, his hair, even his clothes—this was Suwon. A tiny, child Suwon. “What the hell was in that tea?”

Suwon jumped. “Who are you?”

“Ah!” His childish voice was so cute! But he didn’t recognize her. That was bad. “Lili, remember? The water general’s daughter?” Had his mind gone back to that of a child, too?

“No…I’ve never met the Lady Lili, but I know she’s younger than me.”

“Well then, how old are you supposed to be?”

“Ten…” He narrowed his eyes. “Who are you really? Why can’t I remember how I got here?”

“Um…” This was going to be so frustrating. Could she tell him the truth? No, telling a clever ten-year-old that he was king seemed like an absolutely terrible idea. “I work for Yona!”

“Okay…”

“Alright, Won—I’ll call you Won for now, okay?—we’ve got to keep you hidden from everyone else in the palace. We can’t let anyone see you like this. Wait here while I check to see if the coast is clear. She darted around the corner of the garden path, looking for servants or worse, any of the generals. Good, it was safe. She turned back. “Now, come—”

He was gone.

* * *

Suwon knew nearly all the hiding places in Hiryuu Castle. He was sure that odd woman wouldn’t be able to find him. Now, to figure out why he was here. He hadn’t been to the castle in months, not since—and choosing to come back was surely something he’d remember.

Her comment about the tea. He’d been drugged and brought here. Had Il’s true intentions finally come out? What was he planning? But some of that lady’s—he’d call her Lili, even if she couldn’t be—some of her comments didn’t make any sense. She’d asked him his age like an accusation. Whatever was in that tea, she hadn’t known about it, and she’d been intent on keeping him out of sight. Maybe she really was trying to help? Then why lie about who she was? No…she knew him well enough to call him Won, and had introduced herself impatiently, as if he should already know her. So she really was An Lili…who should be somewhere around Yona’s age, not an adult woman.

It was almost too fantastic to believe, but it all fit together. Had he somehow found himself in the future?

Lady Lili knew what was going on. She wanted to keep him safe. But she also wasn’t going to tell him anything useful, that much was clear. Suwon would be better off getting to the bottom of this on his own. And after all…if he really was in the future, it could be just the chance he needed to learn what the world had become. To learn how he could make sure things turned out the way he needed them to.

First, a date. Any piece of paperwork should have it—it was too risky to go into the king’s office when he didn’t need to, but…too tempting, as well. He could learn so much! As he stepped into the room, he paused to look around, then grinned in satisfaction. The royal office wasn’t furnished to Il’s tastes, not at all.

Well then, who was king? The papers here could tell him that, too. But before he had a chance to see any more than the date—nine years in the future, just like he thought—two pairs of heavy footsteps tromped down the hallway. “Where could they have run off to?” asked a voice Suwon didn’t recognize.

“You’re the one who wanted them to be alone together,” grumbled the second man. That was Captain Judo—so even in the future he was chasing after him. Were they looking for  _him_ , though, or his future self? Suwon ducked under the desk as the men peered into the royal office, then hurried out again. Better to get out of here quickly after at all. He shot one more glance at the papers on the desk, and—

_His Majesty, King Suwon._

He’d really done it. Finding himself in the future, with allies hiding him from the palace staff and talk of poisoned tea, he’d almost wondered—but no. He’d made it, and Il was gone, and he was king.

…that made it even more dangerous that he’d been brought forward from the past, didn’t it? He definitely needed to get out of the palace. Well, if he wanted to learn the path that had led his future self to the throne, out of the palace was the best place to be.

Ogi’s base of operations was in the same place it had been nine years ago. There really was no way to ask the man direct questions without telling him what had happened, but, well, he liked Ogi. He’d always been able to trust him. As Suwon stepped into the shadowy tavern, Ogi gaped at him—but he caught up with his surprise quickly, as always. “You must be Won’s little brother! Come with me to the back, we’ll catch up. This ain’t a good crowd for a kid.” At that, the men in the room booed him, but Suwon could tell it was all in good fun. They knew when to give their boss his privacy.

His demeanor changed as soon as they were alone. “Okay, what’s going on? You’re not Won’s little brother, you’re the spitting image.” He shook his head. “I don’t need any more weirdness, I really don’t. But I’m going to get it, aren’t I?”

“I traveled forward in time from nine years ago. I’m the ‘Won’ you know. And I need you to tell me everything you know about how I got from this point to where I am now.”

“Oh…jeez. That’s a stretch even from you, you know!” Suwon shrugged. He was here, and Ogi knew who he was. He could choose to believe his eyes, or not. “Can’t you just go talk to the king? Your adult self? It’s not like I even know the whole truth myself.”

“Something’s going on in the palace. The fact that I was brought forward in time—I think I’m in danger, or maybe—” No, he wasn’t going to go there. “That’s why I need to know. I need to do it better.”

“Suspicious little brat, aren’t you?” He sighed. “Look, you know I don’t give out intel for free,” said Ogi, but Suwon could tell his heart wasn’t in it—and then Hak stepped into the room.

At least, Suwon thought it was Hak. He’d grown up strong, just like Suwon knew he would, but he wasn’t wearing his familiar Wind Tribe feathers, and he stared down at Suwon with an unreadable expression. “Hak!” Suwon exclaimed. “You’re here! Everything’s going to be alright!”

Hak stepped closer, hand outstretched, face still frighteningly blank. Was this really the Hak he knew? “Who now,” said Ogi. “Young Won here—” he put a firm emphasis on the word “young” “—says he traveled forward in time. He doesn’t know—”

“Doesn’t know?” Hak growled, and Suwon flinched back away from him. He had seen Hak—his own age, in his own time—turn his scary face on others before, but never on him. Never like this. “You kept the truth from us for ten years, I know that much.”

What had happened between them? What had gone wrong? If it began with a secret…there was only one secret that could have caused this. “Hak, I couldn’t tell you, you’re—you were—” Just a child. Someone powerless to make things right, someone who needed to be kept out of it, kept safe. But this Hak, the Hak of the future, was strong. “He murdered him, Hak, he killed Father! I saw—I saw his blood—” He hadn’t told anyone, and as the words poured out, tears followed. “Uncle Il killed him, and then he said such kind words at Father’s funeral, and promised to take care of me, and I couldn’t tell anyone.”

Hak’s expression softened. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and then he reached down and wrapped his arms around Suwon, hugging him tight. “This has to be a dream,” he said, “but please don’t change. Don’t become the Suwon who hurt Yona, just—just stay like this.”

Yona, too? But she had nothing to do with anything! “I don’t know how I hurt you,” Suwon said, “but I’m going to fix it. I’ll find out where history went wrong, and when I go back, I’ll change it. I won’t let things turn out this way between us. I don’t know how I was pulled forward in time, but I’ll turn it to my favor. To our favor. I promise!”

Hak twisted his lips into a sad smile that almost frightened Suwon even more than his dark glare. “A dream,” he repeated. “It has to be.” He held Suwon even tighter.

The silence broke with a loud crash as the room’s wooden door swung shut. Lili stood in the dark entrance, mouth half open, eyes wide. Somehow, she’d known to find him here. “Suwon,” she said, “you’re not—you didn’t travel in time. You just—you turned into your younger self, somehow. You can’t change anything.”

_No._  That didn’t—but yes, it made perfect sense. Lili’s secrecy, keeping him hidden at the castle, even the poisoned tea, if that was what had done it. Hak pulled away.  _No!_

“Suwon,” said Lili, reaching out to him, “I think it’s gonna be best if you come back to the palace with me now.” Suwon glanced back at Hak and was met only with stony silence. Wordlessly, he took Lili’s hand.

* * *

Later, when everything was back to normal—when Suwon was himself again, when Lili had asked him how much he remembered and he told her nothing, only gazing wistfully up at the empty sky before asking her to leave—Lili scoured the palace, trying to get to Geun-tae before he left. Finally she found him. In light of what had happened, it was easy to forget the way she used to fall apart whenever she saw him. “Geun-tae!” she yelled. “I hope you know I’ve lost every ounce of respect I used to have for you. If that’s the kind of tea you like to give to your wife, you’re a sick, sick man.”

Geun-tae blinked, then leaned back with a proud smile on his face. “I don’t need any love potions,” he said. “My wife is already madly in love with me.”

It took a moment for that to sink in. Then— “It was supposed to be a love potion?” Lili screeched. “Oh my god, that’s even worse!”


End file.
